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Friday, May 15, 2015

Natural Energy Bites

Summer is coming, and if your family is like mine, we will be on the GO! Vacations, camps, swimming lessons, hiking and camping are all on the agenda.

So I developed these yummy and nutritious Natural Energy Bites. I've seen similar products in the health food section at the grocery store--Aussie Bites, Simple Bites, Somersaults--and all are yummy. But we can devour lots of money's worth of those in a short amount of time.

You can make these bites and store them in the fridge or freezer all summer long. My family loves them. My neighbors love them. I took some to my physical therapist today--they loved them! Have I convinced you yet?

If not, here are more reasons to love these nutritious morsels:

* Refined Sugar-Free

*Made with Coconut Oil (a healthy fat)

* Gluten Free

*Wholesome, Natural, Easy-to-find Ingredients

*5 Grams of Sugar and 85 calories per FOUR snacks

Here's how to make 'em:

The healthy winning line-up. Many, if not all, of these ingredients are probably staples in your pantry.

The tools used to make the cute little uniform bites:

Wax Paper or Parchment Paper and an Apple Corer.

Beat coconut oil and honey. Add the egg and mix well.

Put nuts and dried fruit in food processor and pulse until...

...it looks about like this. It's okay for a few larger chunks to remain.

Stir the processed fruit and nuts into the oil and honey mix.

Measure 1 cup of old-fashioned oats into the food processor or blender.

Pulse until mostly milled into "oat flour." Add baking soda and pulse a few seconds more. (No need to wash your food processor between the fruit/nuts and the flour--it all ends up together in the end!)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Beat coconut oil and honey. Add egg and mix well.
3. In a food processor, process nuts and fruit together until chopped very small. Stir this into the oil and honey mixture.
4. Stir oatmeal flour and baking soda together. Add to wet mixture. Stir in vanilla.
5. Stir seeds, flakes, and remaining oatmeal. Dough will be thick.
6. Dump dough onto wax/parchment paper. Place another piece of parchment on top. Use a rolling pin to flatten to a uniform 1/2 inch thickness.
7. Using a apple corer, cut out the "bites" and place 1/2 inch apart on cookie sheet. Bake for 7 minutes. Cool completely.
8. Store in a zipper seal bag in the pantry, fridge or freezer--depending on how quickly you expect to eat them. Recipe doubles well. :)